Like Two Pearls in a Pod
by CannibaLilly
Summary: In order to finally take care of the threat that is Rose Quartz and her group of rebels, Yellow Diamond sends her Pearl as a spy to earth to gather information. In the meantime our Pearl and Greg are still struggling with each other. They don't hate each other but can they really be friends? When Yellow Pearl arrives everything changes and nothing gets easier.
1. The Plan

**Part 1: The Plan**

 _A/N 1: English is not my native language. I apologize for any mistakes or misunderstandings. Also I usually write British-English, but since SU comes from America I tried to adapt. Constructive criticism is always appreciated._

 _A/N 2:_ _One of these fics that happen when you just want to write that ONE scene and end up writing a multi-chaptered monster. Ratings, warning & characters will definitely be added as I go along._

 _A/N 3: To avoid confusion: This story is mainly gen/adventure. Some Pearl/Rose, some Pearl/Yellow Pearl, and some work on the friendship (not romatic) between Pearl and Greg_

 _Set before "Last One out of Beach City"._

x-x-x-x-x

Yellow Pearl hurried down the carefully polished hallway towards conference room VVS. She tried to push an unruly stray of hair back into place without slowing down. She was late. If that stupid Peridot hadn't chosen the latest possible moment to let her know the files of this tablet computer would be needed for today's meeting... She muttered a curse as she took the next corner.

A smile appeared on her face as the door to room VVS finally came into view. She tightened her grip around the important computer and came to a halt in front of the door. She took a moment to make sure her sheer shoulder sleeves were standing upright. Everyone would be waiting in there for her appearance, she was the one who had fetched the crucial computer with the information about earth after all. She could only imagine everyone's faces when she finally opened the door and-

Her shudder of anticipation was interrupted by someone else opening the door for her, only a little, and then this someone poked her head outside. "You are late", the Blue Pearl in front of her informed her. Yellow Pearl felt herself flushing bright orange. How very dare that blue-

"Come on in", Blue Pearl interrupted her train of thoughts and opened the door just wide enough for Yellow to enter which she begrudgingly did.

As she entered, she had to realize that she had not only missed out on her special entry, but also that Yellow Diamond had not exactly been kept waiting. She and Blue Diamond were engaged in conversation and did not even notice her presence.

After the murder of Pink Diamond, Blue Diamond rarely left her base anymore. For today's conference she had sent her Pearl – which was only common courtesy really – but not come over herself. Instead she hovered next to the window in front of Yellow Diamond, calling via the diamond communicator.

Before Yellow had found the courage to open her mouth, Blue Diamond turned her head the slightest, but Yellow's Diamond picked up on the movement and turned around. Yellow jumped to attention and crossed her arms into the diamond shape, as best as the tablet computer she was still holding allowed her to. It ended up looking rather ridiculous but neither Diamond bothered to take note of that. "M-my Diamond", she spluttered. "Excuse my late arrival, there has been a delay with the Per-"

Yellow Diamond raised her hand to hush her Pearl who instantly fell silent. She then reached out her hand and Pearl hurried to give her the computer. Yellow Diamond brought it to live with a flick of her hand and quickly skimmed through some of the documents. Whatever she had read, it seemed to confirm her expectations as she switched of the computer with a sigh.

"It is settled then?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Yes", Yellow Diamond replied slowly and intertwined her fingers in front of her lips. "We cannot simply continue to ignore this group. The debris of the Rebellion has kidnapped our Lapis Lazuli, a useful source of information, brainwashed one of our Peridots and done who-knows-what to one of my best Jaspers and a whole squad of Rubies."

"They have not returned?" Blue Diamond wanted to know.

"Who?"

"The Rubies."

"No. After their report from Neptune they did not contact me again. Also the transmitter on their ship had been turned off."

"The rebels got them as well?" Blue Diamond wondered.

"Possibly", Yellow Diamond closed her eyes for a moment before gathering herself. She turned the tablet computer back on and opened one of the older documents. "It all keeps coming back to her. Rose Quartz and her group of rogue gems."

"We assumed they were destroyed when we used the... Our scans showed clear signs of corrupted gems on earth."

"Apparently _some_ gems survived", Yellow Diamond said and pursed her lips. Yellow Pearl had not been Yellow Diamond's personal Pearl during the time of the Rebellion, but of course she knew all about it. That included Yellow Diamond's decision to build the Cluster and launch a weapon on earth. What exactly that weapon did was of course top secret, but it had something to do with corruption. Yellow Pearl was sure that if the plan had failed it could impossibly be due to a mistake made by her Diamond. Yellow Diamond was the leader of Homeworld's military for a reason. No other gem or Diamond could measure up to her perfect rationality.

"We have to take care of this", Blue Diamond decided.

" _I_ have to take care of this", Yellow Diamond corrected sharply. "And I will."

"Rose Quartz proved to be a danger to _all_ of us. We cannot ignore this threat."

Yellow Pearl shrank back against the wall. She wanted to be everywhere but in this room when the two Diamonds got into an argument with each other. The Blue Pearl next to her was either unfazed by the fight or just managed to hide her emotions better than Yellow did.

After a very long moment of staring at each other Blue Diamond sighed. "Very well", she gave in. "What are you intending to do? Send another ship there with a larger squad this time?"

"No. I have lost enough gems already. If we cannot beat Rose Quartz by directly attacking her, other measures have to be taken."

"Like what?"

Yellow Diamond leaned back in her chair and folded her hands. "We know too little about Rose to efficiently eliminate her. What we need is someone on the inside."

"You are suggesting a spy?"

"It might be our best shot. The rebels on earth have already taken in one of my Peridots. They might do that again, provided we sent another harmless gem to earth. Not someone they perceive as a threat like a Jasper or a group of Rubies. Someone I trust, someone who is clearly too weak to directly cause any harm to them and someone disposable in case we miscalculated the rebels behavior."

Yellow Diamond's eyes found her Pearl and a heavy stone seemed to form in Yellow Pearl's stomach. "I think I might have just the right gem for the job."


	2. Another Try

**Part 2:Another Try**

On the little blue planet several light years away from Homeworld, Mr Greg Universe was just climbing up the stairs to the temple where his son lived with the Chrystal Gems. Wheezing he stopped and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Have it always been that many steps?", he asked himself as his gaze wandered further upwards, past the little house the gems had built for Steven. All the way up to the strange gem godess that was carved out of the cliff. He could spot something pink waving to him from up there and realized it was one of Steven's shirts. That was where they hung his laundry to dry?! Suddenly Greg was more than happy to climb the remaining steps to the little wooden house as long as it meant he never had to climb the stairs that lead up _there_.

He hardly ever visited the gems at home, but today was different. He wanted to take Steven and Connie to their first ever Monster Truck Palooza. The kids really deserved a little break after what had happened with Jasper. Greg hadn't _fully_ understood what's up with this corruption business, but what he had understood was that the kids – and the gems for that matter – were going through a rough time and a good old Monster Truck Palooza was exactly the kind of distraction they needed.

He knocked on the door. While he waited, the smell of salt water that was inherent to Beach City mixed with another smell. Greg took a sniff and wrinkled his nose. What _was_ that stench? It was a stench that bit his nose and made his stomach sob, just like... "Someone's burning pancakes!", he exclaimed in horror and hammered on the door, demanding to be let in.

A moment later the door was torn open and a very irate Pearl stood in front of him, glaring. "What is it?! I am very busy!" Something behind Pearl loudly blew up. "Oh no, what now?" she hurried back into the kitchen, Greg following.

What he found was a mess of a kitchen. "Looks like the flour and egg department had a war with milk and sugar...", he picked the remains of a pan up from the floor, it had a hole blown into it, "...and a nasty one too."

Pearl wasn't listening, she was busy trying to damp down the fire that was rising from the stove and slowly burning the shelves above. Considering that she was using her apron for it she was doing a fairly good job.

"Don't just stand there!" she shrieked at Greg. "Do something!"

Greg jumped and seized the faucet. He aimed for the burning stove but still managed to flood most of the kitchen including Pearl. When the fire had died down he expected her to glower at him, but she simply sighed and slumped down on a chair at the counter.

Awkwardly, Greg put the faucet down. Ever since their trip to Empire City his and Pearl's relationship had somewhat improved. They could spent time alone together without that hostile silence that usually prevailed most of the time. That didn't mean they actively sought out each other's company either. Steven had helped bridging the gap between them, but the bridge looked fragile and neither Greg nor Pearl had dared using it very much in case it might not hold out.

"So", Greg started slowly, "you were... cooking?"

"Obviously", Pearl replied, not unfriendly.

Greg rubbed his neck. He glanced at the burned stove, trying to come up with something else to say. Finally he said, "well, I always tell Steven-", at the same time Pearl started, "it wasn't as successful as I hoped-" and both of them blushed.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you", Pearl spluttered.

"No, no. Go ahead!" Greg tried and once more they cut each other off. Eventually Pearl gestured for Greg to start so he said, "why were you trying to cook?"

"'Trying' sounds about right", Pearl said, looking down. "It is usually Steven or Amethyst who do the cooking. And it looks so simple when Amethyst does it too, so I thought", she shrugged, "why not give it a try?"

"Well, of course it looks easy when Amethyst does it", Greg said. "She just puts together whatever and ends up eating the packaging." Pearl gave a weak smile so Greg felt it safe to ask, "what were you trying to cook anyway? Never thought you were a big fan of eating."

"Oh, I'm not! I wanted to make pancakes for Steven and Connie. They are out on their first training mission by themselves and I thought they might appreciate the treat. Also... since Steven made me absolutely-not-cheating-pinky-promise that I wouldn't follow them to keep an eye on the mission... and Garnet locked the warp pad after them... I kind of needed a distraction."

Greg smiled. That the gems were so worried about Steven all the time was one of the reasons why he managed to survive thinking about his son being out there, doing all that magic-stuff. "That's ni- Wait, that mission is today?!" Greg hit his forehead with his palm. "I really _am_ getting old. I forgot all about it... Looks like the monster truck palooza will have to go down without us."

"Monster... Truck... Palooza?" Pearl repeated, slowly, as if trying to figure out if those words made any sense if used together.

"Yeah, it's a big thing, if you're- uhm, if you're into monster trucks. Steven and Connie have been wanting to go for ages. I guess both of us thought the kids deserve a little break after... everything really. Well," he pushed up his sleeves and grinned at Pearl, trying to encourage her. "Just because they won''t be here in time for my palooza doesn't mean we can't give yours another try and save it."

"But I burned all the required ingredients", Pearl argued.

"Who needs milk, eggs and flour to make pancakes? We'll just improvise like all the great chefs do!" Greg fetched a new pan. "What do you say?"

Pearl squirmed in her seat, unsure. Finally she shrugged and joined Greg at the stove, mimicking his pushing-up-the-sleeves-motion. "Sure, why not give it another try?"


	3. The Right Gem for the Job

**Part 3: The Right Gem for the Job**

Yellow Pearl was pacing the hallway in front of conference room VVS. She was almost hoping for someone to walk by so she could glare at them, but it seemed luck had abandoned her altogether. If only she could have said the same about the Blue Pearl.

Ever since the Diamonds had sent the Pearls out to discuss the details of their plan in private, she had stood there. Right next to Yellow, unmoving, her hands folded before her. Silent. She was the picture perfect Pearl, even while no one else was watching. Usually Pearls took the rare chance when they were alone to exchange some gossip. Who knew what about whom? Who plotted a scheme with each other? Things like that. And it was Yellow's biggest joy to point out how utterly un-Pearlish that was – they were made to be seen not heard after all - watching the other Pearls blush and stutter their excuses, but _this_ Pearl wouldn't even grant her this simple joy.

After some more pacing and staring at the wall in silence Yellow finally burst out: "they're probably discussing which gem to sent to earth. I-it'll be an honor to be chosen by the Diamonds, of course, but earth...", she made a big show of shuddering. "I wouldn't want to go there."

"I think it was rather obvious that they are going to sent you", Blue Pearl replied camly, without even looking at Yellow.

Yellow shot her a glare. "D-don't be ridiculous!" she stammered, "I'm a _Pearl_! Just a Pearl. We are not sent on missions. We are sent to fetch pens and sometimes a computer with crucial information if our Diamond really trusts us, but this... This is Ruby-work!"

"You heard them. They need someone they trust, someone who seems harmless..."

Yellow waited for her to say "someone disposable". Yellow Diamond had said it and of course it was true. Pearls were common. There was practically a cue forming behind both of them for the job of a Diamond's Pearl. Yellow herself had replaced the Pearl before her... Funny how she had never thought of her predecessor before, what had have happened to her? But Blue Pearl didn't say it, she had returned to that saintly silence of hers.

Yellow Pearl turned away and faced the closed door, her arms crossed before her chest. "Never in the history of Gemkind has a Pearl been sent on a mission", she repeated stubbornly.

"Never in the history of Gemkind has a Pearl been part of a rebellion either, but from what I gathered there is one on earth now", Blue answered.

Yellow's mouth suddenly felt very dry. The rogue Pearl that fought alongside Rose Quartz was a taboo to talk about, especially among Pearls. The other gems preferred to pretend there had been no such thing as a Pearl in the rebellion. If they absolutely had to talk about her, they pretended she was the rebells property as much as every Pearl was someone's property, but certainly not an independenly operating _individual_. Still, a lingering doubt remaind and many years after the Rebelion, Pearls had still been treated differently. They had lost so much of their limited freedom, had been punished much harder than before and everyone who seemed remotely dangerous had been removed.

Yellow tried to push the memories of that time back down. It had been a time before she had become Yellow Diamond's Pearl, she had moved on. Still, that Blue Pearl went from not talking at all to talking about _this_... Yellow wasn't sure what to make of her. Was she trying to set her up? Catch her saying something risky? Or was she herself trying to find out how openly she could speak?

Yellow sought Blue Pearl's gaze once more and this time she found herself looking into two eyes behind a fringe of blue hair. "All I am trying to say is that sometimes Pearls are used in unusual ways if need be."

Yellow tried to analyze Blue's eyes. Was that really all she had been trying to say? Before she could really decide, Blue turned back to face the door. "Still, Pearls fightin... That's just unnatural", Yellow mumbled and hugged herself. Now she really didn't want to go to earth. Not only was it far away and alien and dangerous but somewhere down there was a Pearl that stood for everything she had learned to fear.

They waited for a while out in the corridor. Both were too well trained to get tired or bored that easily. Standing around all day, having nothing to do, nothing to occupy oneself with, was a basic skill for Pearls. Still... with a possible trip to earth hanging above her head like a shadow, Yellow found it increasingly difficult to do nothing but wait.

Finally the huge door to the conference room opened and Yellow Diamond appeared. Yellow sprang to attention. "Come in", Yellow Diamond said shortly and both Pearls entered the conference room where the hologram of Blue Diamond awaited them. Yellow Diamond took a seat and gave Yellow Pearl her instructions who replied with a lot of "certainly"s and "of course"s and nodding.

When the plan had been explained to her she finally spluttered out: "b-but with all respect, my D-diamond. Wouldn't another gem, maybe-"

"No", Yellow Diamond cut her off and her Pearl felt her gem vibrating in her chest. "You are the gem we will entrust with this mission. I am certain I will not have to mention how much of an honor it is for a Pearl to be chosen."

Yellow shook her head. No, of course it was an honor. She felt like she had used up all her bravery to question Yellow Diamond once and now there was nothing left to talk back to her again.

"Very well", Yellow Diamond closed the conversation and sat back in her chair, adressing Blue Diamond once more. "I will keep you posted on the mission's status."

Blue Diamond inclinded her head in response, now Yellow could see where her Pearl had got her perfect silence from. With the last bit of nerve Yellow could muster she glanced at the Blue Pearl and to her surprise the Blue gem was looking straight at her, trying to tell her... what?

Yellow felt like she was missing the point of this silent message. And a second later it was over and the Diamonds said their good-byes. Blue Pearl left with the guards her Diamond had assigned her and Yellow was alone with a group of strangers who would be responsible for preparing her for her mission.

If not for her years and years of training she would have cracked right there and ran away screaming, but she was a Pearl and she was very good at keeping an upright posture and listening to a lot of people giving her a lot of instructions at once.

 _A/N: Of course I couln't just go and tell you what exactly the Diamonds' plan is, so you'll just have to sit tight and find out ;)_


End file.
